MOments before Areest of five Journlaist on S-15 in front of Trinity Church
(Image by Cory V. Clark) Details DMCA
MOments before Areest of five Journlaist on S-15 in front of Trinity Church by Cory V. Clark
New York, NY September 17, 2012-The rights of journalists' have, for the course of this
country's history, been one of the most sacred institutions. Even when everything else had gone wrong we
were free to talk about, photograph, or video it. We may have been beaten and
abused in a lot of ways; however, we did our jobs without fear of arrest, so
long as we didn't legitimately break the law.
Even in extremely tense situations such as the DNC, the RNC,
and the NATO summit in Chicago, the arrest of a journalist was a rare event. Often
if there was such an occurrence they were released without charge. All of this would change this past weekend in
New York City for OWS's one year anniversary.
It's not that journalists were arrested that is the problem;
it is the fact that they were targeted for arrest without cause or provocation.
On the evening I arrived, I was told by an NYPD LT. that my
press credentials meant nothing here. This was the tone that was set for
journalists who came from all over the world to witness what they felt would be
the celebration of a life time and perhaps the reemergence of the Occupy
Movement to the front of the pages.
Video streaming by Ustream
On the first day of protests as Occupiers marched down the
side walk from Washington Sq. to Zuccotti Park, police continually pointed out
journalists they thought could paint them in an unfavorable light.
At one point, police came after me and grabbed me by the arm
in an attempt to arrest me.
However, I had been warned by the police's telegraphing
behavior, and warned the NLG, practitioners of black bloc tactics, and members
of various other groups I had imbedded with over the past year.
When the officer made the arrest attempt, I was immediately
de-arrested and pulled into the crowd to safety at the back of the march, while
police changed their targets to some protesters with a banner and others who
had their faces covered with bandanas.
After the violent attack had subsided due to a small, feisty
woman from Philadelphia who defended herself from police hostilities, even
kicking officers' in the genitals for their trouble. The ruckus that she had
caused had put the police in a situation where they were surrounded and
outnumbered by now enraged protesters chanting shame and let her go, causing
commanders to give the order to withdraw for the time being.
This, however, was not to be the end of the assaults on
journalists.
After the protest had arrive at Zuccotti Park journalists
were prevented from taking any photographs from the side walk of the crowd
gathered, on several occasions photographers were told they would be arrested
if the stopped even for a moment outside of the barricaded park. In addition they were prevented from climbing
anything that would give them a good high angle shot.
Around 8:30 in the evening threats and intimidation turned
into violent action by the police for a second time. A group of five photojournalists were attacked
and arrested by police while attempting to photograph a series of arrests in
front of Trinity Church.
Police had already formed a wall across the sidewalk
blocking foot traffic and preventing the observation of arrest being carried
out on the other side in front of Trinity Church.
The aggression started after Sgt. Daiz of the 7 th precinct told one photographer "I will be engaging you later," pointing his finger at him in a threatening manner.
Sgt. Daiz was one of the officers leading the charge into
the crowd of journalsits.
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